This invention relates to a part fixing system making combined use of one type of retaining clips for fixing the position of the part and another type of retaining clips for absorbing positional deviation of the part.
There have been suggested various methods for fixing rear combination lamps and other similar parts to automobile bodies. According to one typical method, the part, a rear combination lamp for example, is fixed onto the automobile body using bolts and nuts. This method involves many work steps. Moreover, if there should by any leakage of water into the part after it has been fixed, it becomes necessary to remove all the bolts and nuts before the part can be given the required readjustment and repair. Still further, this method has been unable to provide accurate positioning of the part relative to the automobile body.
In another method a rear combination lamp or the like is provided with a plurality of engaging clips projecting from a fixing flange of the lamp and when the lamp is pushed into a matching fixing hole in the automobile body, the engaging clips come into fast engagement with the edge surface of the fixing hole. However, in this method, when the fastness of the engagement between the plurality of engaging clips and the edge surface of the fixing hole is not sufficient, the adjoining surfaces of the lamps and the fixing hole may fail to form a perfectly watertight union and, consequently, water may leak into the interior of the lamp. This situation cannot be remedied since the individual clips cannot be tightened at will. Further, when any one of the clips breaks, the whole lamp retainer must be replaced.
With a view to eliminating the common disadvantage of most conventional methods that accurate positioning cannot be obtained for the part being fixed, yet another method has been devised. In this method, which is an improved version of the first method mentioned above using bolts and nuts, a rear combination lamp is accurately positioned relative to a fixing hole in the automobile body by causing positioning pins projecting from the flange of the lamp at positions other than the positions intended for attachment to be inserted into corresponding standard holes bored in the body and, subsequent to the positioning, by fixing the lamp onto the automobile body using bolts and nuts. With this method, however, it is impossible to fix the lamp to the automobile body with a single action.
In the various methods such as those described above, when the intervals between the adjacent locating pins, engaging claws, etc. formed on the part being fixed happen to differ, even though very slightly, from those between the corresponding fixing holes in the object, it becomes impossible to obtain fast attachment of the part. For fast attachment, therefore, some degree of positional adjustment is required either of the part being fixed or of the fixing hole(s).